I found myself face-to-face with a newly assigned D-squad employee at the office.
The position was the same as mine: supervisor. He seemed to be around my age before I got involved in all this ghost story nonsense.
The bespectacled employee glanced me up and down briefly.
“Ah, so you’re that supervisor? The one promoted in just 60 days?”
“Then you’re basically still a rookie, huh?”
I silently stared at him.
“Oh~ Look at that glare. What? You expect to be treated the same as a supervisor with three years under their belt?”
“Of course not. I look forward to working with you, sunbae-nim.”
“Sure. Hey, I heard you’re pretty quick on the uptake?”
“You know, in the Field Exploration Team? It’s all about teamwork, you know. The key to surviving? Reading the room! Got it?”
“If you go around whining about being promoted early and demanding to be treated like a senior, you’ll just end up marked and left to die without help. That kind of thing happens all the time.”
He scanned the office lazily.
“I heard the assistant manager and supervisor who used to work here both lost their hands and got contaminated. That could be you next.”
I turned my head slightly to look at the one clean, empty desk in the office.
That had been Supervisor Park Minseong’s desk.
A few days ago, I came in to find all his personal items, cups, and picture frames had already disappeared, just a day after the new personnel announcement went up.
“True. It could be you, Supervisor.”
“The work here is dangerous enough. I’ll do my best to assist you so that doesn’t happen. I’ll be in your care.”
I politely extended my hand for a handshake.
The employee, who had been eyeing me with a faintly unpleasant expression, must have decided it was just his imagination and shook my hand.
Shortly after, another voice rang out.
“Squad Leader! Supervisor Yoon Johoon reporting for duty. I look forward to working with you!”
The lizard-like Lee Jaheon, our squad leader, nodded briefly at our new squadmate.
“Haha, did you know our initials are the same? It must be fate for me to work under you, Squad Leader!”
(T/N: In Korean, the surnames are 이(Lee) and 윤(Yoon), that’s why Johoon mentioned ‘same initials’. Technically in modern Korean, ‘Lee’ is pronounced more like ‘Yi’, too.)
“……No, I mean… uh, doesn’t it feel like destiny?”
Yoon Johoon, the new addition to our squad, failed miserably at small talk.
As soon as the squad leader left for a meeting, Yoon sidled up to me, whispering conspiratorially.
“Hey. Is D-squad’s leader, like, mentally not all there or something? I heard rumors.”
“Is that how he seems to you?”
“You don’t see it? Were we even talking to a person back there? It felt like chatting with some free AI.”
He let out a long sigh.
“Damn, this company’s already enough to drive you insane, and we get stuck with a leader like that? Ugh. What’s the deal with him?”
“Squad Leader Lee Jaheon is attentive to his squadmates’ well-being.”
“So what? You still die if it comes to that, right? And if he’s out there doing his own thing in the Darkness, no wonder A-squad’s leader hates him. That rumor’s true, isn’t it?”
“It is, huh. Ugh, you’d better watch yourself, too. Seriously, of all squads…”
Yoon Johoon grumbled something about needing the restroom and then didn’t come back for nearly half an hour.
Do I really have to work with people like these?
– Oh dear… You seem to be in low spirits, Mr. Roe Deer.
– Would you like assistance from your good friend, Braun? You know I am always ready to help.
– Just say the word, and I’ll gladly—
‘Let’s watch some variety shows together after work.’
– Ah, now that sounds delightful!
The conversation helped calm my mood a bit.
To be fair, I’d been ridiculously lucky with colleagues before.
‘This is what life in a company is normally like, after all…’
At least these supervisors weren’t a step above me in the corporate ladder. For that, I was thankful.
I quickly composed myself and moved on.
Later that afternoon, Lee Jaheon returned from his meeting, holding a PDF file for distribution.
“We’ll now begin the briefing for tomorrow’s entry into a Darkness.”
The newly added Yoon Johoon recoiled in horror.
“Undetermined grade? What is this, some undocumented Darkness?”
The lizard turned his vertical pupils on Yoon Johoon.
“Each time it’s cleared, the grade of the liquid in the Dream Essence Collector changes.”
“T-Then why isn’t this assigned to an elite unit instead of a regular unit like D-squad?”
“It’s not limited to D-squad. All regular squads under the Field Exploration Team are attempting entry.”
Lee Jaheon turned his gaze toward me.
“This Darkness is entered through dreams, and the chance of successful entry is low.”
“Here are the basics: On a full moon night, read a specific book and fall asleep. You may wake up in a school at night.”
“If the school’s name is ‘Sekwang Technical High School’, you’ve successfully entered the Darkness.”
Sekwang Technical High School.
I knew this ghost story.
But it wasn’t just a matter of knowing it…
‘This is a ghost story I’m directly involved in.’
Exploration Record #13
The 13th entry in the Dark Exploration Records.
I was the one who wrote it.